Capodanno a Roma

2012 eventually arrived…happy new year!

Allora, una festa with friends from school among others was supposed to be held at home for NYE yesterday, and pretty much everything was set up and ready – however in the afternoon a few people bailed for whatever reason and subsequently the whole thing was called off. Vexing, yet as recompense I spent new year’s eve at the Colosseum in Rome.

As you’d expect, la metropolitana was packed with masses of people, but once we arrived it actually wasn’t as crowded as I’d expected. I guess the main difference was the fact that there wasn’t one centralised place where everyone gathered; rather it was just a huge celebration all around the city!

Vibe is definitely something I can’t describe adequately enough – all I can say is that the Romans know how to party! I fuochi d’artificio was spectacular, but to be honest I don’t think any city can ever rival Sydney. Given amateur fireworks are readily available from the shops everywhere, they were set off all throughout the night which was generally pretty exciting!

At midnight, we toasted spumante along with the rest of the city and once we got home, apparently it’s some sort of tradition to eat ‘cornetti’ (croissants), so in the end I went to bed after 3am. It was really fun though and a great start to the year, I’m really looking forward to 2012 and all that it brings!

xxxxxxx

Serena

Ps – as I mentioned briefly in my last post, we’re going to the mountains for a week so I won’t be able to update anything until I get back. Even though it looks so amazing, unfortunately I can’t go skiing due to restrictions with contracts, insurance and whatnot but hopefully it’ll be a relaxing time away!

[NYE '11 at the Colosseum]

Buon Natale da Roma!

Christmas Eve: Yesterday I revisited the beautiful city of Rome and saw the most incredible places! Sure, I’d seen photos of places like St. Peter’s Basilica before, but I guess I didn’t quite realise the magnitude and splendour of these landmarks before I experienced them myself. To be honest, they’re absolutely magnificent – one definitely has to go and see Rome for themselves sometime!

So during the course of the day, I went to St. Peter’s Square, saw the Pantheon, walked all 138 of the Spanish Steps, threw my coins into the Trevi Fountain, and just generally embraced the festive Christmas vibe of places like Piazza Navona and the Piazza di Spagna, among others. Rome is one of the most amazing cities of the world in so many different ways!

In other news…Merry Christmas from Italy! I trust everyone had a lovely day regardless of your whereabouts and what time zone you’re currently in – remembering the true meaning of it all!

‘And they shall call him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us.’

xxxxxxx

Serena

PS to my dear family, it definitely felt a bit weird being so far from home today – and I wish we could have celebrated Christmas together instead of being separated over three different continents. At least our combined skype session made up for a large part of it though. I love you and miss you all!

[St Peter's Basilica from St. Peter's Square]

[All'interno - Basilica di San Pietro]

[Fontana di Trevi]

[Piazza di Spagna]

Firenze: the birthplace of the Renaissance

Since the last time I updated this blog, many exciting things and experiences have happened. Besides the changes in weather, I’ve been to a theatrical performance (all dialogue in Italian by the way), met the two other Australian exchange kids in the area, done a presentation on Australia – in which we may or may not have told everyone that we eat echidna, and after doing so, finish it off by using its spikes as a thrifty substitute for toothpicks haha – had a massive dinner party with unconscionable amounts of food, and finally been to Florence (with the exchange kids from Victoria!)

Again, like Rome – Florence is such a beautiful city! It was a completely new vibe with different monuments like the Ponte Vecchio over the scenic water views of the Arno River and Piazza della Signoria, but in general everywhere I go in Italy has been so amazing!

First off we explored the markets, and I finally had my first nutella crêpe in Italy! It was a bit weird though, even before we’d started speaking we’d been immediately spotted as foreigners in one of the market shops. When asked how they knew, we were told that besides obvious language hindrances and racial dissimilarities, it was our outward appearance that gave it away in terms of gestures, fashion, clothes and even the way we walk…what?! Well evidently this whole cultural immersion and integration thing only really works on a basic level haha!

We spent the most part of the day walking around and seeing the extraordinary city, but towards the end we had our highly anticipated hot chocolates in an apparently famous café on the Ponte Vecchio. Given it cost a dear 5,50 euros, it would only have made sense for it to be buonissima. Unfortunately it was anything but! It turned out to be a really bitter, dark chocolate fondue under the guise of ‘hot chocolate’, which was honestly way too intense to drink by itself. If it had come with about fifty strawberries, it would have been ideal – and that is the extent to how strong it actually was! Even though I only had a little bit, I felt a little lightheaded afterwards – and I can’t believe I’m saying this but – too much chocolate…

The three-hour roadtrip there and back was also an extremely fun part of the day. Sure, we did spent a lot of the time discussing the complexities of Italian grammar and phrases with the questions ‘come si dice..?’ and ‘che cosa significa..?’ repeated numerous times, but it was so lovely to have such enjoyable conversations about anything and everything with such a nice group of friends both Australian and Italian!

Today was a really exciting day and I definitely had a great time in Florence! Once we got back to Rome at around 11pm, it started snowing outside which was so amazing in itself! I’m absolutely loving Italy!

xxxxxxx

Serena

[Florence]

[Florentine markets]

[Piazza della Signoria]

[River Arno]

[Oh, and here's one of me...finally!]

All roads lead to…Rome

Yesterday I went to the centre of civilisation: Rome. It was extraordinary in every way, and generally such a beautiful city! I guess I wasn’t really expecting to do touristy sight-seeing given it was a school excursion for a Latin assessment, but as an added bonus I was able to see the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill (one of the most ancient parts of the city on which Rome was founded).

Everything was amazing; the streets and architecture of the many different buildings are so full of historical significance. It was just such an overwhelming aura to absorb all at once: the food, the people, the sites, the city! And Roma Termini was another experience in itself…

I’m definitely hoping to visit Rome again once I get the chance to, and perhaps see a little more of this magnificent city – ’twas a great day!

Ti voglio bene!

xxxxxxx

Serena

[I apologise for the major lack of photos, as I mentioned before my camera is broken so it's a little difficult to transfer the photos I've taken from the borrowed camera onto my laptop. For now though, the iphone will have to suffice - The Colosseum]